Tag Archives: tallahassee restaurants

Tallahassee has a new bakery, and I am delighted! Shocking, right? But you heard right, I’m here, I’m chubby, and I like pastries! SoDough opened its doors a week and a half ago, and the buzz around town has been palpable. They have no parking, limited seating, long lines, and it’s worth every damn minute you have to wait. I’ve been twice now for early morning weekend pastry runs with my friends and not a single thing we’ve tried has been anything less than amazing.

A group of us got up early and decided to make our first visit at 8 am the day of the grand opening. The line was out the door, but the staff bustled around filling cases, offering coffee cups to people who were planning on purchasing so they’d have something to sip in line. The crew behind the counter was hustling, filling orders, making/decorating donuts, and ringing up purchases, all while being helpful and pleasant to each and every customer. After securing a box full of pastries apiece, we retreated to the seating nook near the window and proceeded to over indulge. We all got a couple different things so there was a lot of “try a piece of this” and “holy crap, this is amazing – you have to try this.” There were also some wordless happy dances performed after trying a bite of something especially amazing. Between what I’ve purchased and what my friends have let me try I can whole heartedly recommend the following: the Strawberry Lavender Sugar Donut, Delta Butter Donut (Andy’s favorite), Key Lime Pie Donut, Chocolate Stout Donut, the Indigo Shibori Bread, The Everything Bagel Kolache and the Mushroom Pastry (my favorite). The pastry case always has something new and interesting to try, but this at least gives you a place to start.

Since both of my visits have been on the weekends, I am trying to figure out how to get over there during the week to see if things are a little less hectic. No luck so far, but it’s only been two weeks.

Continuing with my new need for brunch exploration, we tried out a local favorite The Edison Restaurant. The Edison is housed in what once was The City Electric Building which was built in 1921 to help meet the demand for electricity in the rapidly growing city. It is also located near the edge of Cascades Park, so outdoor diners have the added benefit of a lovely view of the park.

Immediately, I fell in love with the decor: preserved brick, innovative fixtures, and lots and lots of light. Plus, the booth we sat in was super plush and comfy.

I kicked off brunch with a Rose Water Lemonade, and after some consideration, my dining companions both decided to go with the Steak and Eggs while I went for the Crepes Suzette and a side of the Blacked Homefries.

The crepes were okay, the sauce was pretty boozy, and since I don’t drink, I found it a wee bit off putting. The others were over the moon about their Steak and Eggs though, lending largely to the spicy cheese sauce drizzled over the egg and cheese portion of their plates. They were right; it was so good. I even traded Andy the rest of my crepes and homefries for some of his potatoes (you know once the icky steak part was gone :P).

All and all, we had a great time, and we are thinking about having Andy’s birthday dinner there later this year. If brunch is that good, I am excited to see what they can do with dinner.

I’m very big on brunch; it’s my favorite meal of the week. I am also fortunate enough to have friends who feel the same way and are more than willing to meet up and help me indulge in my addiction. Lately, we’ve been trying to expand our culinary horizons a bit and deviate from our tried and true favorites. This past weekend, we tried out Liberty Bar & Restaurant.

Located in Midtown, I was a little worried about parking, since space is always at a premium, but Liberty is located near Joe Mama’s and Lucky Goat, which have a decent amount of parking. The added bonus was if there weren’t any tables we’d have other food options. 😉

Luckily, we got there shortly after they opened and were seated right away. We did note on our way out, however, that both the indoor and outdoor tables were almost all gone.

The food was really good; we left wishing we’d opted for stretchier pants. Our waitress was very sweet, and she made sure that we understood the menu and was willing to make accommodations for any dietary restrictions.

All in all, I would absolutely come back. I wouldn’t recommend it for larger groups; they have signs posted saying they can not accommodate groups larger than twelve, plus it also is a little dark and pretty loud, which is not always optimal for interacting with the rest of your group. The only other negative I’d add was that some of the staff seemed to have an issue with me taking pictures. No one told me to stop, but I felt the dirty looks from the bar staff were unwarranted since 1 – let’s be honest, we live in an Instagram world, 2 – my camera was never directed at any people, and 3 – most places encourage social media shout outs and online reviews. Oh well, maybe I just caught them on an off day, and it wasn’t bad enough to keep me from wanting to go back.

After spending the last couple weekends mostly puttering around the house, I was ready to go out for a bit this weekend and, most importantly, get my brunch on. My friend Jenn and I decided to try somewhere new, and we found our selves downtown at the Southern Public House.

I was a little apprehensive going in; both Jenn and I have dietary restrictions, and occasionally when we brunch together, the serving staff or the kitchen get upset if we request modifications. I had nothing to worry about though because the server and the kitchen staff went out of their way to make us feel at home. They even ran over to their sister shop next door to pilfer some tea bags when we asked if they had hot tea!

I had the Southern Benedict (with the bacon on the side), and Jenn got the Corned Beef Hash and Eggs. I traded her my icky meaty bacon for her deliciously gluten-y biscuit (she is gluten intolerant) so things worked out quite well. I really enjoyed the food, the eggs were perfect, the fried green tomatoes were crispy and tart, and the biscuit…..oh, my goodness, the biscuit! I was stuffed, but I would have eaten another 1 or 20 if I had the chance. Jenn was a little less in love with her food (it wasn’t quite what she’d been looking for), but she said she’d absolutely be coming back to try something else.

Depending on how our weekend ends up going, I am thinking about taking Andy to Sunday brunch. I think he’ll really enjoy it 🙂